Paradox
by Moon Witch '96
Summary: Drabble series. Rose Tyler has always been on the jeopardy friendly side. A paradox? She's been the cause of that before, thank you very much, and wants nothing to do with them. But the Master has always been a stubborn fellow, and here she goes again. And now, she's in a race across time and space to set things right. Typical really. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Rose Tyler had always had a knack for understanding when something was wrong. The Doctor had liked to call it her 'sixth' sense, though of course he would then go on a long rant to the number of actual sixth senses humanity would develop in the course of history, and say sadly she was just very observant, but well, that was the Doctor. Now, Rose could only stare at those gorgeous brown eyes of his again, her fingers gripping at the damn lever again, and she felt as if she couldn't breathe.

A song, loud and alarmed sounded in the back of her head like she thought she never would hear again. It was a warning, telling her softly to calm down and reassuring her even while it screamed of her own worry. She felt the whirl and pull of the void, she heard the daleks and cybermen screams as the rushed passed her.

And once again, her fingertips began to slip.


	2. Chapter 2

"ROSE! JUST HOLD ON!"he cried out, and it was an echo of the memory inside her head...

Somethings wrong, she thought again, blinking rapidly and trying hard to focus... And tried desperately, even if this was a strange dream, to hold on to that stupid lever. But again, just like before, just like a year ago, she couldn't, despite her need, despite all the strength that had been put into her body through her in course of her time spent with him was useless.

And she fell.

All.

Over.

Again.


	3. Chapter 3

Just like before he screamed, and someone caught her 'round the waist. But her body tense at the feel, or the way that he placed his nose in the crock of her neck, or how tightly held on as he disappeared. And it wasn't that normal, familiar feel of her father gripping at her. It was too intimate. Too possessive. Not the way he had held onto her the first time, soft, tentative, as if he couldn't be sure of what he was doing.

And then she was swept away with a whirl, her stomach turning as the Doctor screamed after her, and she clutched at the arm around her waist even as she reached for him. The world spun and turned black, whirling whirling, a spinning mass that made her very mind spin with it and made her stomach reach her head and push against her lungs then swoop back down.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the worst thing she ever experienced, even worse than that time the Doctor accidentally brought her to an amusement park meant for humans way sturdier than her twentieth century self, and had gotten her concussed on the merry-go-round. She gasped as she felt herself being released, falling onto her knees, _hard_, and she wrenched, gagging really, somehow not up chucking altogether... Nearly, losing her lunch as her world spun, and as she felt her head settle.

"Well... That was exciting."said a male voice, and weakly, Rose turned around, and the man in front of her smiled, a big goofy grin that didn't reach his dark eyes. He made no move towards her to help her, only watched her with those dark, deep eyes, searching for something, what, she couldn't say.

It wasn't her father, that much was obvious to her even as she felt the room spin. He was a man in his mid-thirties, brunette, short hair, and wearing a neat suit which screamed wealth. His foot tapped impatiently in a neat, expensive dress shoe, and on his wrist, a big, black smoking thing, and he tossed that aside with a fling, a look of disinterest as he did that. He tapped out a four beat rythme, tap-tap-tap-tap, a steady, rushing beat, his foot going again and again, like a nervous tick. Rose blinked, taking him in as she noted dimly and with a leap of her heart that she was inside the TARDIS.

"What the hell?"she asked, because, really, what the bloody hell?

He laughed, all giggles and bouncy feet in a way that made her skin crawl. Careful to keep her eye on the man, she pushed herself to her feet, noting that something was very, very, wrong. Call it a hunch, call it the damn red light flashing in the console room or the fact that she could hear the TARDIS screaming in alarm in the back of her head... But really, something was very, very, wrong.

"Rose Tyler."he said carefully, and he took a single step closer. Rose, liking very much the distant between her and the man, took a step closer to the TARDIS console.

She hummed urgently at her to come closer.

"That's me. And I know for damn sure that whatever you've done to get me here is very wrong. Now this is the point where I ask: Who. The. Hell. Are. You?!"she said it in her best Torchwood captain voice, strong, steady, and pissed as hell.

He smiled, all softness and tenderness. Like a snake before a meal.

"We're in the TARDIS. Dashingly saved you from falling into the a parallel world. New face, same man... We've been through this all before Roooose Tyler."he said carefully, tugging at his tie, grinning again.

And then her heart stopped and rose all at once.


	5. Chapter 5

Part of Rose wanted to believe him. Because that meant that he went back to save her. That the Doctor did the impossible and risked a paradox for her. But, no, that wasn't what he did. She knew, she had been there, Bad Wolf Bay, she had died, she had watched him disappear with that stupid, promising sentence half said. She had been working her ass off to find him again, and today, it had been another day like all the days before, dull as hell at her desk, writing up a report of her about the alien time-loop and the exploding gelatin incident and then, she had blinked, a song soft and wonderful had echoed in her head, and suddenly was back at the damn moment her life went to hell.

She gritted her teeth.

"What was the first thing you ever said to me, then?"she asked, and she watched as he blinked.

She smiled tightly as he blinked again, and took a step closer.

"Go on, tell me, _Doctor._"she said and he licked his lips, rubbing his hands together before clapping.

"Hello there, let my dashing self save your life?"he said, and it sounded like a question.

Rose smiled, and if she had been able to see herself, she would have noticed how wolfish her smile was. The man certainly did not see it either, and smiled back, arms outstretched as he went to hug her, but Rose instead straight up kicked him in the stomach, knocking him back to his arse, his smile disappeared, a gasp escaping his lips. He blinked at her.

"Wrong answer."she said simply, shifting into a stance, stumbling slightly in her boots, but she knew she would have made both Jack and her martial arts instructor at Torchwood somewhat proud.

And then the mad man with his ass against the grating was laughing.


	6. Chapter 6

"Of course, had to try. Well, tried to be nice Rose Tyler, but,well, you had to be a smart little monkey. "he said with a hearty chuckle.

Rose sighed, and wondered dimly if all aliens had to insult the human race.

"Ape, thank you very much."

"Cheeky monkey."he muttered, and he jumped up with a disturbing ease.

She licked her lips, and tried not to flinch as he stepped forward.

"Take one more step and I swear I'll knock you into next week. Now, who the hell are you and where is the Doctor?"she asked, and she kept her Torchwood voice to avoid her voice from faltering.


	7. Chapter 7

He smiled, all glittering white and loveliness and she had to stop herself from flinching away, because this man was not only causing a paradox on a massive scale, but he also had the TARDIS, and that was bad on so many levels, and Rose hadn't felt this scared since the Doctor had told her that they would never see each other again.

"I, Rose Tyler, am the Master."

He had said this with a smile, and a flair, bowing his head like a gentleman and extending his arms and swishing them around.

"Let me guess, Megalomania, Narcissistic, and some form of personal vendetta against the Doctor?"she asked, and was somewhat amused as the man nodded to each of her assessments. He laughed, head throwing back in his mirth.

"Oh, oh, I can see why he kept you around! Well, other than that whole undying devotion thing, oh, and that pesky little act of you absorbing the time vortex."

Rose felt a tingle and the screams of the TARDIS increase in the back of her head.

"I did what?"


	8. Chapter 8

The answer grin he gave her was downright devious.

"Oooh, the little monkey doesn't know?"

The fact that the TARDIS told her in not so many words to get closer to the console made something in Rose shiver. But, she followed her instructions, gripping and clinging at her and wishing for the life of her that she was back at her stupid desk at Torchwood and away from the 'Master', wishing stupidly she was back there and wishfully thinking about the trans-dimensional cannon, not with this damn... Person in the midst of something that would most likely hurt a lot of people.

"Please... Just... Don't."she had been this close to getting back to him, the cannon had nearly been ready for its first test, and while part of her desperately want to take this chance to avoid the year in Pete's World in the first place...

But she doubted the universe would be that kind to let her.

"Oh... Oh, oh,oh, don't worry little lamb, the big, Bad Wolf won't hurt you."he said, and he was smiling, all gentle and easy as he took out a gun.


	9. Chapter 9

And just like that, her world went into hyper focus... Those words... That name.

"What did you just say?"because that name was meant to tell her something. A message that she saw everywhere and to her...

It was... Her's?

"I won't hurt you."he said, and he aimed the gun at her heart, the sound of the safety being taken off echoed loudly along with the TARDIS' song as it increased in volume.

Somehow, she found herself giggling. Even with the gun... Or maybe because of the gun. She remembered desperation and the Daleks, a song loud and bright and wonderful, just as desperate as her and she remembered love and devotion and burning...

"No. Bad Wolf. Say that again." and she gripped tightly at the console as the sound of the TARDIS song softened, her screams trailed off to something that seemed like laughter. Mocking, loud and directed at the man in front of her.

The Master blinked, his brows furrowing, and he turned to look at the TARDIS' console, looking irritated. Telepathic, noted Rose, a good one at that if he could hear the TARDIS, and she laughed along with the beloved ship.

"Bad wolf?"asked the man, alien, whatever he was, irately, and Rose grinned at the confusion he showed.

"Bad Wolf... That's _mine_."she said, and part of her wondered if she should be concerned at the way her voice seem to echo with...

Power... And it... Was what.. She... Was given. Given to create herself. And just like that.

Rose knew, and somewhere inside her, a howling of a fierce, fierce strength sang out along with the golden song.


	10. Chapter 10

The Master took a startled step back, his eyes, squinting at the TARDIS before, suddenly wide as he turned to stare at her, mouth agape. Rose felt a rush... A rush of warmth in her veins suddenly, deep and growing from her the very tips of her fingers to the end of every nerve. She felt soon as if she was on fire. If she could have seen herself, she would note that her hazel-brown eyes had turned a striking molten gold.

"What the hell?"

It grew, grew, and the TARDIS whispered in her heart, in her mind, and she ignored the startled shoots of the man as the TARDIS beckoned her closer, the warmth of her song like an embrace to her being, and she said, quite clearly in her sing-song voice:

"_Turn my beloved Wolf._"

Rose started to turn her head, to where that sweet, familiar song was loudest, and then of course the Master shoot her.

"Don't you dare ignore me! You can't ignore ME!"he screeched as Rose crumpled, and her chest hurt like a bitch as she watched a macbre, brilliant rose bloom in the center of her chest.

She looked at him, with his wild eyes and the song of the TARDIS throughout her body, and, despite the pain in her chest, she smiled, tongue-in-teeth.

"Watch me."she said simply, and turned away from him, and the heart of the TARDIS laid bare, open for her, just as she had forced it open before.

Only this time she did not walk away and rush off to find her Doctor, but staggered to the opening, and with the heart reaching for her with long, wide arms of gold, she fell in.

Down,down, down, into light and song.


	11. Chapter 11

Rose Tyler didn't know the difference between time and space. Up, down, sideways, gravity or the passage of time and space... It didn't quite work that way and anymore, inside the heart of the TARIDS, it was a maelstrom of everything at once, a swirling mass of golden songs that she felt in her very bones, deep into the marrow and all across her nerves, burning deep and hot, loud and soft, until it was all she really felt. It was so comforting, like a blanket she had had as a child, familiar and safe. A blanket she had sorely missed and she found herself reaching for it, just as it reached for her.

And so they both wound into each other, the TARDIS looking deeper into her heart and Rose deeper, and deeper into the TARDIS's heart. Both, if they had been able to at that moment, would have sighed in a long overdue sigh of relief...


	12. Chapter 12

It was beautiful. And it was terrible. But at the same time Rose Tyler felt as if being part of the song, the very heart, was like coming home after a very long day. Rose needed to feel that, ached to feel that, so she threw herself into it, just as the TARDIS threw herself at her Wolf, a deep urgency in her as she looked into her, knowing that something was coming. Something great and terrible would happen to her precious pink and yellow haired girl, and the only way she could protect her precious, lost little Wolf was to give her the means to create herself, all over again.

Give her back her fangs and claws like never before so that she would save herself from the fate that awaited her...


	13. Chapter 13

They lost themselves in each other, the pink and yellow girl and the blue box, creatures of time and flesh all at once as they looked at through each other to the very essences of the other. Both, if they could have distinguished themselves as separate at that endless, moment, eternity, or however long they looked into each other, they would have quite liked what the other saw.

One saw emotions and deep, deep compassion that flew across time and space, with brilliant thoughts and a whirlwind of hormones and funny little chemical triggers that baffled her. She saw the Valiant child and the Bad Wolf, strong and bold, fragile, Rose Tyler with her pink and yellow nature. She became her in a sense, all tiny and bigger on the inside(just like her!), and with aching flesh that burned and silly things like toes, which she wiggled out of sheer delight.

The other saw a enormous mass of golden song, time and space, across eleven dimensions and everywhere but nowhere all at once. She saw and felt the beat of the time vortex and she found herself becoming her. She was that silly blue box that was non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint -like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff, all uppy down and wonderful and strange and a quirky old thing that sang out with the beat of the song of the universe, the last of her kind.

Together, in each other's hearts, they felt invisible, untouchable, and they were, apart from all and untouched. However, at the same time, they could not touch the universe, and frozen within the other.


	14. Chapter 14

It was after an eternity of this,(or was it just a moment?) that they both stepped back from the other's hearts, knowing that they could not dwell too deeply, even if they wanted nothing but to stay together for all of time and space, and the eldest, the being with more wisdom than the even the Doctor had in his smallest little finger, reached out and blanketed her precious Wolf into the deepest corner of her heart. They had things to do, and her little Wolf had a long journey ahead of her if she wanted to stop her wretched faith. However, first, the TARDIS needed to find just exactly what her Wolf's journey was...

Time was a thing that even the TARDIS had to figure out at times, after all, it was strange and vast like an ocean to drift through, or a fabric to stretch and pull out until one found just the right strand in an endless interwoven cloth that never ended. Now it was just a matter of finding that pesky strand.


	15. Chapter 15

So the TARDIS searched on, her consciousness reaching out to sort through the threads of time, the would bes and the maybes, the have to bes and the things that would, could never be. Each string connected to her Wolf was swirling and spiraling thin braid of gold, ringing out with a mixture of the TARDIS's own golden song and the Wolf's sweet, pink and yellow one. Some where thicker and louder with her personal song. Some where short but most stretched out to the very end of time. Some interwove themselves with their Thief, but most were with her Wolf alone and howling across all of time and space with the song that was just as much the TARDIS's as it was the Wolf's.

It was terrible and lonely, and it all of those ended with her Wolf ending with the universe alternate or not, hearing the screams of children ring out against endless nothingness... The TARDIS watched with something akin to horror at that fate, for it was the most prevalent of all. Her Wolf always ended alone with the screams of the end of the universe in her ears. She pushed away those endless strands away.

Screaming out with frustration as it left her with only a few hundred possibilities out what was once an infinite amount. She huffed at the stupid, silly universe for giving her a hard time. The Wolf deserved more than this! She growled, tossing aside the strands that left her without their Thief. There were only a few hundred or so left, and the TARDIS wondered if pulling the consciousness of her Wolf from her older body in wake of the Master's idiotic tampering worth the pain she felt from being able to see all of her Wolf's time-lines at once. Tucked deeply in her heart, with something akin to sleeping, she joined the TARDIS's song gently, not knowing the types of fate that awaited.


	16. Chapter 16

Rose felt herself become a part of the song, her body melting away into time and space and warmth and song...She was apart of the TARDIS's heart, a note and rhythm in the loud gentle song and network of arching webs and complex loops, swirls. A pulse beating, a stutter of a time beat older than the universe itself. Lost in it and apart of it...


	17. Chapter 17

It took the TARDIS exactly a hundred and sixty-nine years, a hundred and four days, and thirteen hours, to sort through all of the strands that belonged to her Wolf. She looked at the signal, golden strand that was... The least horrible of all. It sang out golden and true, tucked between two other lines that were nearly the most horrible of all. It was a thin one, a slim chance for it to occur. But, if anything, the TARDIS, after centuries of traveling, of living and so forth, after watching gods and goddess coming and going, she believed in one thing... She believed in her Wolf, just as their Thief had, just as he did, just as he always would.


	18. Chapter 18

It was hard to tell for her when the song around her changed. Or really when it changed to the point where Rose felt like Rose again. It was like an easing, gentle nudge that warmed her and made her aware of herself again, like she had just woken up after a long, deep sleep. Groggy and not quite being use to herself, she opened her eyes in a flurry of constant blinking. All she saw was knots upon knots, loops and intersecting webs of the most brilliant gold, all pulsing in tandem with the notes of that familiar song that made up the heart.

It was warm and like being embraced, and Rose wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep again... and against the warning of the song, Rose felt herself slip away again.


	19. Chapter 19

At this point Rose still wasn't quite a physical being, she didn't feel her still aching and torn up chest, or how parched her throat was, or the distinct feeling of weightlessness of being suspended in time and song. No, she was just a collective of what made her Rose, stray thoughts and emotions, primal and higher motions bound together by a golden string of time and song.

But then, quite suddenly Rose felt it all, pain and toes and things like that with a sharp jolt back into her physical body.

"You're going to have to battle for that right strand. The one that is the least terrible. Or you have... or you will." The voice that sang to Rose Tyler echoed with that precious song around her.

It was warmth and right and if she had been able, Rose would have nodded in agreement to what it said. She understood to some extent what she needed to do.

"What happen at the battle's end?"she asked, and she felt afraid.

The song was afraid as well. But it was stronger than her, older, and wiser, confident in her in a way that only the Doctor.. Thief, mad man with a box had been...

"Mercy, happiness, sadness one of the three or all. It depends on you. She just has to figure out your name."

"Who's she?"she asked, confused yet not at the same time.

"The Star. The one that loved a Phantom. Loves. Will love."

That named stirred something up inside Rose, and she found herself curious.

"What is she to me?"

"Salvation. Damnation. Both, neither. Find her. Found her... have to find her. At the end, she will have your name, and the paradox will, has, had ended."

"I'm afraid Sexy... that's your name, or is it Idris? TARDIS?"she asked, because it was all a confused muddle in her head, all information whirling at her in a storm of could bes and things that had come to pass.

"So am I Wolf. So am I. And not yet. Not quite. Not ever. Maybe soon. Go, before I keep you along with your physical form."The TARDIS-Idris-Sexy said, urgently and pleading.

"You will take me where I need to go?"asked Rose, though she already knew the answer, and she got a laugh.

"I always did. I always have, and I always will."she said, and it was warm and soft, and full of song.

And then Rose Tyler's consciousness left the Heart of the TARDIS.


	20. Chapter 20

Martha Jones was just seven years old when she met the best friend she could ever have. She was in the bathroom, it was dark, and she felt silly.

"Bloody Mary."she said plainly into the mirror, and she heard the slight titters of her friends outside before she knocked harshly against the door, and they scattered, giggling and squealing.

"Bloody Mary."she repeated.

Nothing happened, and Martha felt herself snort. Of course nothing happened she thought with a huff. Nothing was ever going to happen, Bloody Mary wasn't real... It was a story to scare babies. She had only agreed to this because Tish had gone and embarrassed her in front of her friends. Calling her afraid! She wasn't afraid of anything, especially not silly made up ghosts.

"Bloody Mary." She cried, and she was grinning at the silly game.

Then she started to laugh when her friends pounded on the doors to scare her... When two golden eyes suddenly looked back at her from the mirror, her laughter turned into screams.


	21. Chapter 21

Bloody Mary was a bottle blonde.

Somehow, that was not something Martha had expected. She stumbled out of the mirror, golden eyes swirling and hazy, and Martha herself found herself screaming as she pressed her back against the door, and the laughter of her friends was constant until suddenly they were pounding on the door in concern. Martha only screamed louder as the figure, wrapped in a golden, fierce light turned to her.

She was a young woman, with big lips and a strong jaw, and these eyes... Her hair had been blonde, with dark roots at the end, and that floated around her with an unseen wind. Her chest dripped with blood onto the floor, and Martha noticed with a jolt that it would fade after a second or two... Then, quite suddenly, the light around the young woman faded, as did the wind that had whipped about her clothes, and though her eyes still weren't normal, intensely gold as they were, they weren't that burning, hazy gold light. She had pupils and everything. The young woman blinked for a second, touching at her chest with a curious look on her face.

"Oh."she said, and then, of course, Bloody Mary collapsed on top of Martha.


	22. Chapter 22

It took Martha about thirteen seconds flat to understand that yes, Bloody Mary was on top of her, and yes, she was just as solid as she looked. She was slightly transparent, so really that meant that she wasn't quite solid at all. Martha certainly felt her weight(cripes she was heavy!), but it was almost as if it wasn't really there. It was... Weird, to say the least. It took her another thirty-nine seconds before she could breath at all, and the screaming in her throat stopped. Quite boldly, breathe fast and ragged, Martha pushed off the ghost with a grunt. She was only seven after all, and slightly weightless or not, the phantom was heavy.

Bloody Mary only let out a soft groan, and then did not make a single sound.

"Martha are you alright in there?"her sister's voice sounded scared, and she pounded on the door. The titters of their friends had stopped, and all she heard were frightened whispers.

Martha could hardly breath, let alone answer with more than a squeak as she stared at the Ghost on her bathroom floor. She just stared at the still form, not moving an inch, her chest just moving in a soft beat, a contrast to Martha's which rose rapidly and heaved.

"Martha?"and it was her mother's voice that sounded this time, and she sounded fairly put out.

"Mum I'm fine. I feel silly."she heard herself say, her voice just seemed sheepish, and she heard her mother's slight irritated huff.

"See girls? You've only embarrassed her. Leave her be for a moment."

She heard the clicks of her mother's heels as she left, and Martha breathed deeply. Reaching out carefully, she extended her hand to touch the specter. She did not stir, even as her hand hovered over her. Martha took a deep breathe, trembling. And, with a brashness, she reached out to touch Bloody Mary.


	23. Chapter 23

Of course, the second she reached out, golden eyes opened and Bloody Mary sucked in a deep breathe. Martha froze, backing up to slam against the door as the ghost sucked in a groan. She tried several times to get up, her hands nearly lip as she tried to push herself up. After a moment, she did so, leaning her head back against the opposite wall with another groan.

"Oh bloody hell that smarts."she said simply, her voice was hoarse, and weak.

Martha let out a strangled squeak, and the ghost's hair swirled around her head as her head snapped to look at her. Golden eyes stared, and Martha felt her heart skip a beat.

"Hello."she said simply, and Martha gaped at her. The thick, accent that Martha recognized from some of the kids at school, they were what her mother deemed 'unsuitable' for her to be around...

The ghost smiled, a funny little thing that made Martha blink.

" 'S rude to stare you know."

Martha's mouth snapped close, and she blinked again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."she said automatically, and the ghost smiled again.

" 'S alright. I have a feelin' I just scared ten years off of you."

Martha found herself nodding.

"Did it hurt?"she blurted out, and the ghost's darker brows crushed together in obvious confusion.

"Did what hurt?"

"Dying?"

The ghost blinked, and automatically, Martha's eyes looked to her bloodied chest. The ghost then smiled, and looked clenched her fists over her chest.

"It hurts."

"Are you alright?"

Bloody Mary opened her mouth to answer, but her eyes suddenly glowed, a brilliance that made Martha looked away, and when the light had died down, she saw that the woman was gone.


	24. Chapter 24

Martha Jones did not see Bloody Mary for quite some time. In fact, two whole months happened It was as if she had never existed at all. Martha wondered if she had dreamed the whole thing up, but of course every time she thought that to be true, her sister or mother would mention her little 'incident' in the bathroom. She didn't know what to think. It was impossible. Bloody Mary couldn't have talked to her calmly and a little dazed in her basement lo. But it had happened. Maratha swore it, not that she would tell anyone about it of course.

She rather not go to the loony bin at seven, thank you very much.

It wasn't until she was walking home from school one day did she ever see her again. In a familiar haze of brilliant haze of light, Bloody Mary appeared. She hadn't changed in any sense, and Martha supposed that had to do with the fact that she was ghost. They can't change much. She was staring at her, brows furrowed, golden eyes sparkling as she kneeled in front of her urgently grabbing her shoulders.

"Martha, sweetheart- "

"How do you know my name!?"she demanded, shrugging out of her firm grip.

Bloody Mary blinked.

"Oh. Oh, we haven't properly met haven't we? Has Tish lost her pink teddy yet?"she asked, looking distressed.

"What teddy?"

Bloody Mary frowned, and then opened her mouth, before blinking.

"Sweetheart, stand back and look away."she warned, and Martha followed the adult's command on reflect.

And once again, she disappeared in a flash of golden light, leaving Martha more confused than before.


	25. Chapter 25

Rose didn't quite understand what was happening to her. One the one hand, she knew for sure that she was suppose to be dead. Because, really, the big gaping gun shot wound was an indicator of death. On the one hand, as the little girl in the lo was so kind to point out, she could be a ghost. But could ghosts feel physical pain? Because she did. Boy, did she feel as each drop of blood that fell from her chest. And she was drifting, moving, shifting through... Time and Space. She appeared and disappeared at what seemed random points, right after appearing to the little girl, Rose was appeared in what seemed to be a jungle. The air felt thick, heavy, and if she was right, almost as if there was too much oxygen.

She froze, because she heard a roar, deep and powerful. Automatically, she rushed towards the sound when screams followed the noise. She sprinted through the jungle, hardly registering the fact that she was floating a good foot off the ground, or that some of the giant ferns around her were simply passing through her body.

"GRANDFATHER!"screamed a girl, eyes wide and terrified.

Rose ran faster, and came upon a scene straight out of a bad sci-fi movie. There were four people in the clearing; three adults, two of which wore masks around their faces, and the last was of the girl who had screamed, she was captured underneath the foot of what looked to be a T-Rex. Rose gasped, rushing forward again as she screamed;

"GET OFF OF HER!"

At that the great big turned to her, and Rose felt something inside her burn, scream and howl. She dashed forward, hair whipping around with the sudden power she felt surging in her phantom limbs. She didn't even have to touch the beast, just begin near her caused it to let out a mighty roar as it was flung backwards. It landed on a tree with a painful crunch, before it got up again, bleeding and snarling, rushing towards her. Rose only lifted a single hand, and the creature stopped in its tracks. It flailed, screaming and thrashing. Rose held it firm, turning to the girl, and held out her helping hand.

The girl stared with wide eyes, and took her phantom hand with a trembling one. She helped her up, lifting her easily. The girl, looking to be a teenager, stared at her, eyes wide and dark. She was very pretty, and for some reason filled Rose with a sense of peace. She let go of hand once the girl was steady on her feet, and it was then that Rose noticed she was floating, and she cursed turning around in a rapid motion, trying to understand how the hell that had started.

"Oh. Oh my dear what are you?"asked an old man, eyes wide, clutching his cane in hand.

His granddaughter clutched at his sleeve, having run back to him in the midst of her panicking. Rose stepped forward, holding back the dinosaur that had descended upon the group of people in front of her. The man that had spoken was indeed old, but at the same time Rose had the impression of him being very, very young. Despite his cane, despite his affronted face, Rose had a feeling that he was more frightened than he appeared. She tilted her head to the side.

"Are you alright?"she asked the girl, who nodded.

She smiled, and nodded her head.

"Good. Now get back to your time ship and out of here."

The group of four gaped at her.

"Did I stutter? Run."she snarled.

The did as they were told, the younger man and woman grabbing onto the upper arms of the girl and running away from her and the still snarling beast. The older man, but still somehow so young, didn't move at all.

"I... I can help you."he said softly, drawing himself up. It was as if he was important and somehow, Rose knew he was.

She took a step forward. His eyes grew at the gesture, yet he still didn't move an inch. His gaze was steady, and he looked amazed. Rose found herself smiling. Because suddenly she knew.

"My Doctor? It is you isn't it, Doctor?"she whispered.

The man froze stock still, mouth dropping open. But he nodded.

"Oh, my Doctor."she whispered, and she lifted her hands, and she wanted to touch him so badly, but then she felt something inside her howl, warning, telling...

She pulled back.

"Look away. And get ready to run, my Doctor."

And Rose felt herself get tugged away, into somewhere else... somewhen else as well. She didn't know, she didn't particularly care either. Because all she knew was that she would end up where she was needed.


	26. Chapter 26

Rose fell. She landed with a thud, bouncing slightly off a mattress. She groaned, and rolled over slightly. A startled little girl looked back at her. She was the same one she had seen before, with the same wide brown eyes and the fearful, but curious expression. She was frowning though, hands on hips.

"Stop doing that."she said primly, crossly.

Rose smiled apologetically.

"Sorry Sweetheart, can't say I will be able too."

"It's very rude, Miss Bloody Mary, to be popping up near me. Asking about Tish's pink teddy!"

Rose blinks, and realizes that for some reason, this little girl had seen her at a different point- That Rose would see her again. She thought it odd enough that she had already met the girl twice, and felt her heart constrict at the thought that she would have to see anyone other than the Doctor ore than once, because that meant with certainty that would make the girl important for things of Time and Space. And that was something very dangerous to be important for.

"I haven't seen you yet. That happens later for me."she says, getting wobbly to her feet.

The girl frowns, eyes narrowing.

"What do you mean?"

"Things happen out of order for me. A secon' ago I was with the dinosaurs."

"Is that what happens when you pass away? You criss-cross time then?"asks the little girl, frowning again.

"Not sure, Sweetheart, I'm not even sure if I'm properly dead or not."

"Sweetheart this, sweetheart that. I have a name you know, a good and proper one, better than Bloody Mary."snaps the girl.

Rose smiles.

"Right then, what's you're name?"

"Maratha Jones. Who are you then?"

"Can't say. Names are powerful things. As I am, one bad name, one miss said thing can ruin what I'm working at."

"It's rude not to give your name at an introduction. Mum says so."

"But you gave me a name, Martha. Bloody Mary. That's good enough if when we meet again."she says, and the little girl huffs.

"What if I don't want to see you again?"

Rose crouches down, so she is at eye level with the little girl.

"I'm afraid neither you or me have a choice in the matter. I'm taken where I need to go, not where I want to go."says Rose, sagely, placing a soft hand on the girl's round face.

She's a pretty little girl with dark, clear skin and large dark eyes. Rose can tell she'll be a heart-breaker and knows already that she was smarter than she was at that age. She feels a pull inside her, strong and fast, and pushes away gently.

"Look away from the light, Martha Jones."

With that she's whisked away.


	27. Chapter 27

She's on a planet with long, red, swaying grass. The trees towering over her are silver, and as the wind rustled their branches it sounded like the tinkle bells.

"What are you?" asks a prim voice, and Rose turns to the man with-was that a stick of bloody celery?

He is squinting at her, and all Rose can do is blink at him.

"Five regenerations and you've popped up in all of them." he said sternly.

Rose blinked.

"Have I? Or I guess, will I is the better question." she said softly.

He humphed, adjusting the lapels of his cricket whites.

"Blast. Caught you out of order then."

She smiled, rested against one of the trees.

"God you look good Doctor." she whispered.

Seemingly despite himself, he puffed up like the great peacock that he was.

"I do, don't I? Being blonde is wonderful…. Though I suppose being a ginger wouldn't be too bad." he rolled his eyes, "much better than brunette."

"Careful with that my Doctor. You were a brunette when I met you for the first time, could tell even with that buzzed head of yours… Even in the next body." she giggled at his crestfallen expression.

"Dear Rassilion, how many of mes have you met?"

"Three not including you. Incarnation One, Nine, and Ten."

"Plus the two to four in the future." said the man blinking, "Really, what are you?"

She shrugged.

"Don't know."

"Your name then. Calling yourself Bad Wolf doesn't seem to fit."

"I have many names. Bad Wolf is my strongest one. I chose it for myself."

"Why do you criss-cross my lives?"

"Ah. I don't choose to do that, as lovely it is to see you_. _But I suppose I can at least tell you that I'm just lost. I'm trying to find something."

"What are trying to find?"

"A Star that will know my name." she whispered, and she felt something shift.

"Well, that sounds ominous-"

"Look away from the light."

He frowns, hands out.

"Wait-"

But she was already being pulled away.


End file.
